Thursday, 18 July 2013

When John F. Kennedy, Jr. died in the crash of a private plane in July of 1999, media pundits ruminated at length about the recklessness of the Kennedys and "the Kennedy curse". This program explores the striking contradictions between the official version of JFK, Jr.'s death and the facts concerning his demise. The available data suggest that JFK, Jr. may have been the victim of foul play.

The program consists of an interview with veteran journalist John Bryan, who worked for the San Francisco Examiner (among other papers). John's experience with the Examiner led him to begin questioning the official version of the story. Familiar with the Examiner's weekend publishing practices, John became convinced that the Examiner (for whatever reason) was deliberately withholding the story. (Kennedy's plane crashed on a Friday evening.) Sensing a possible cover-up, Bryan religiously combed the print and electronic media for the truth about the deaths of Kennedy, his wife and sister-in-law.

Beginning with discussion of Kyle Brady (a veteran pilot who flew from the same airport Kennedy departed from), Bryan relates Brady's observation that JFK, Jr.'s preflight actions indicated that Kennedy seemed to feel that something was wrong with the plane.

Next, Bryan discusses the reality of the conditions around Martha's Vineyard at the time of Kennedy's disappearance. Contrary to news reports at the time, the weather was clear and the visibility was from between two and five miles. Kennedy was about four minutes from the airport, was within visual contact radius of the island and had radioed the airport to get permission to land. He did not broadcast a "Mayday" distress call. Eyewitnesses reported Kennedy's plane approaching the airport at an altitude of less than 100 feet. (This contrasts markedly with the "radar track" which was leaked to the media, showing Kennedy's plane beginning its "graveyard spiral" at an altitude of 1800 ft. It is extraordinarily unlikely that Kennedy would have been at that altitude when coming in for a landing. Contrary to press reports at the time of Kennedy's death, he was an excellent pilot with over 300 hours of flying time. Some reports erroneously said he had as little as 35 hours.)

Mr. Bryan also reports eyewitness reports of seeing a "flash" or explosion over the water when Kennedy's plane disappeared. Most importantly, John recounts numerous observations by media political pundits that Kennedy was going to be offered either the Presidential or, more likely, the Vice-Presidential nomination, in an attempt to assure victory for the Democrats in the election of 2000. His death eliminated that possibility. In addition, Mr. Bryan discusses the extraordinary secrecy that surrounded the retrieval and disposal of the plane's wreckage and the bodies of the deceased. Reporters were not allowed to view the wreckage or the autopsy. No autopsy photographs were taken, in direct contravention of Massachusetts law. The bodies were cremated within 10 hours of discovery and buried at sea. John points out that the Kennedys are Catholic and Catholics traditionally bury their dead.Cremation was completely forbidden by the Catholic Church until 1963, and since then only under certain extraordinary circumstances. Scattering ashes at sea is strictly forbidden. Bryan questions this extraordinary secrecy and departure from accepted procedure and points out that the tail section of the plane appears to have disappeared.

The discussion features several observations by Mr. Emory, including the fact that the Kennedy assassination was back on the political front burner after Boris Yeltsin publicly gave President Clinton the KGB files on Oswald (which demonstrated that they felt Oswald was probably an American agent). Mr. Emory also points out that the Kennedy assassination was part of a lawsuit that was proceeding through the courts in 1999.

The program concludes with a reading of the obituary of Anthony Stanislaus Radziwill, JFK, Jr.'s best friend. (They were best men at each others weddings.) Radziwill died of cancer about three weeks after the death of Kennedy. (The intelligence community has been able to assassinate people via cancer for decades.) A broadcast journalist, Radziwill had covered the O.J. Simpson case and had received a Peabody award for his work on the emergence of "neo"-Nazism in America. (There are numerous evidentiary tributaries between the O.J. Simpson case and the intelligence community, including the Kennedy assassination. The killing of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson appears to have been the work of Nazi elements.

"John Hankey is a long-time investigator who has focused much of his attention on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and produced a documentary setting forth his views on that event: JFK II: The Bush Connection.

Hankey has also turned his attention to the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts on Friday, July 16, 1999. Hankey has produced a 104-minute DVD documentary entitled The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Jr.

According to the widely accepted explanation, Kennedy was a reckless pilot whose died because of his own carelessness. But Hankey shows that Kennedy was actually a careful pilot who was most likely the victim of foul play. Persons who are interested in the death of John Kennedy, Jr should watch Hankey's documentary, the basic outline of which I shall summarize here.

Hankey takes as his point of departure two overlooked pieces of evidence in the official report that the National Transportation Safety Board published one year after the crash.

First, the radar data describing the path of Kennedy's plane showed that just as Kennedy was making his final approach to the Martha's Vineyard Airport, his plane, in the absence of any explosion or engine malfunction, suddenly plunged headfirst into the ocean, falling 2500 feet in 45 seconds.

Secondly, the fuel selector valve on Kennedy's plane was found to have been turned to the off position.

The bizarreness of Kennedy's sudden dive into the ocean is obvious, but the equally bizarre fact that the fuel selector valve had been turned off requires an explanation that the official NTSB report did not provide.

The fuel selector valve has two functions, one a pilot uses frequently and the other infrequently.

The first and frequently used function is to tell the engine from which fuel tank to draw its fuel. Kennedy's airplane contained two 51-gallon fuel tanks, one in the right wing and the other in the left wing.

Inasmuch as fuel is heavy, if the engine uses fuel from only one of the two wings, that wing becomes much lighter than the other wing and the airplane as a whole becomes lopsided.

To avoid this unsafe weight distribution, a pilot sees to it that as his engine burns fuel, each tank still has approximately the same amount of fuel as the other tank. He does this by moving the switch on the fuel selector valve back and forth between the right tank and the left tank during the course of a flight.

The second and much less frequently used function of the fuel selector valve is to cut off all fuel to the engine from both tanks.

It is obvious that a pilot would not ordinarily want to do this in the course of a flight, as it would shut down the engine, but he might have to do it if the engine caught fire.

By turning the fuel selector valve to the off position and cutting off the flow of inflammable fuel to the engine, a pilot could see to it that the fire burned itself out. A fuel selector valve is constructed in such a way as to prevent a pilot's turning it off by mistake.

Whoever turned the fuel selector valve off on Kennedy's plane knew what he was doing and did so deliberately.

The fact that Kennedy's airplane inexplicably dove straight into the ocean together with the fact that somebody turned off the fuel selector valve suggests that someone aboard Kennedy's plane committed suicide.

Whoever he was, he probably first grabbed the controls and forced the airplane into a headfirst dive at 200 mph. He next turned the fuel selector valve off, not to force any engine fire to burn itself out, as indeed there was no fire, but to make it impossible for anyone else on board to correct the situation.

With all fuel cut off, the engine stopped working. Without a working engine, no one could redirect the aircraft in time to prevent a crash.

This scenario may seem fantastic until we realize that only about 100 days later and only about 50 miles away from the site of Kennedy's crash, this is precisely what happened aboard Egypt Air Flight 990.

On October 31, 1999, not long after takeoff from JFK Airport in New York City, Gamil al-Batouti, a member of the Egyptian Air flight crew with no apparent reason to commit suicide, suddenly forced the Egyptian Air Boeing 757 jet into a headfirst dive and then turned off the fuel selector valve.

The plane crashed helplessly into the ocean, taking over 200 passengers, including many Egyptian military officers, to their deaths."

American investigators of a plane crash that killed 217 people last year are wrapping up their inquiry and may approve their conclusions without public hearings for fear of exacerbating strained relations with Egypt.

According to the New York Times, experts at the National Transportation Safety Board are more convinced than ever that a suicidal pilot caused the crash of EgyptAir 990 after it left New York last October.

But the Egyptian government is pressing the theory that the plane, a Boeing 767, developed a mechanical fault in its tail.

According to the paper, some of the US investigators are frustrated that the inquiry, which the Egyptian government delegated to the US, has not been completed. One said that in investigations of domestic crashes, each party has a "constituency" because each represents the airline, or the plane manufacturer, but, he added, "usually you want to solve it".

The investigators still believe that the words of the plane's 59-year-old co-pilot on the cockpit voice recorder were those of a man saying a farewell prayer. As the aircraft was heading for the Atlantic, 50 miles off Nantucket Island, Gamil al-Batouti said: "Tawakilt ala Allah" or "I put my faith in God". Then the captain, Ahmed al-Habashi, who is thought to have left the cockpit, returned to say "pull up" or "help me".

Egyptians say that the Americans misunderstood the co-pilot's words, a Muslim prayer. "This prayer would never be said in times of crisis," said a spokesman for the Egyptian government. "It's definitely not to be said by someone who is going to commit suicide because suicide is against Islam."

Frank Wisner, the former US ambassador to Cairo, said: "Egypt has one of the lowest suicide rates in the world. They are not a suicidal people. Egyptian expressions are constantly interposed with communications to the almighty."

But investigators say there is more to support suicide as a motive:

the flight data recorder does not suggest mechanical failure;

during the plane's dive someone turned off the engines contrary to any emergency routines;

and

at the end of the dive the plane's elevators were pointing in opposite directions, as though the pilot and co-pilot were struggling with each other for control.

The NTSB investigators are thought to have informally rejected the Egyptian theory of mechanical failure. Egyptians "don't care about solving it, they want to cover themselves", said one.

The Federal Aviation Authority has not yet decided on a request from the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority to examine a suspect tail part. The Egyptians are working with a team of experts who once worked for the FAA and the safety board.

They say that the disaster might have been caused by a fault in the elevator panels mounted on the Boeing's tail and which point the nose up or down. The panels are controlled by six actuators, four of which have been recovered from the sea.

One of these shows signs of malfunction. If another be haved in the same way, the aircraft's nose would have gone down, say the Egyptians.

But the Americans contend that the marks of failure could have been caused by impact with the ocean and that, in any case, the crew could have rescued the plane even if two actuators did fail.

Family and friends of the EgyptAir co-pilot Gameel al-Batouty, who US investigators suspect may have deliberately brought down flight 990 to commit suicide, rallied yesterday to defend his reputation, painting a picture of a pious, wealthy man who loved his family and five children.

Policemen outside the Batouty home in the affluent Cairo district of Heliopolis are turning away scores of reporters seeking information on his background or any evidence of suicidal tendencies.

Omayma Dahi, Batouty's wife, was pictured in local newspapers yesterday, dressed in black and weeping. She vehemently denied that her husband, who was 59, could have been responsible for the October 31 crash, or had wanted to commit suicide.

"I want to meet President Hosni Mubarak and seek his help to restore the dignity of my dead husband and attempts to distort his image," she told Egypt's government-owned daily Al-Messa. "As if it is not enough that my children became orphans and that my house has been destroyed."

Mohammed al-Batouty, one of the co-pilot's three sons and a policeman, said: "It is impossible that my father would carry out such an act [suicide], because this is a crime that contradicts all religious principles he strongly believed in."

Another son, Karim al-Batouty, a student, said his father had made the pilgrimage to Mecca three times. He said he had worked on the Cairo-Los Angeles route for 14 years, flying Boeing 767s for 10 years.

Mohammed said he had last spoken to his father two days before the crash. "He sounded good and hopeful and asked me to wait for him with my brother at the airport. He also told me he had sent a number of things I asked for with a friend who arrived a day earlier. Then, he spoke to my mother and asked her to cook him a duck for dinner the day he was due to arrive because he liked that meal."

He denied press reports that his father was depressed before his last flight to New York. He said a few days before, the family had spent a week at an Egyptian seaside resort.

Batouty was an air force pilot from 1967 to 1973 and took part in two wars with Israel.

He became an instructor at the civil aviation institute, teaching many EgyptAir pilots, and was known with respect as "captain". He never held that rank, however - a fact some found odd given the length of his career. According to EgyptAir, he had more than 12,000 hours of flying time, 5,000 of them on the Boeing 767.

One colleague described Batouty as a "son of the soil" - a phrase suggesting reliability.

Batouty's family said his financial position was "very reasonable", as he had inherited agricultural land from his father and owned two houses.

An EgyptAir official said the monthly salary of a pilot months away from mandatory retirement, such as Batouty, would be $10,000 (£6,400). The average Egyptian graduate earns $100 a month.

Batouty's wife also said that her husband was very attached to his younger daughter Ayah, 10, who suffers from the auto-immune disorder lupus erythematosus. She said her husband took Ayah regularly to the United States for treatment. His other daughter, Sally, is happily married to an engineer, she added.

News agencies quoting US officials who listened to the flight's voice recorder said Batouty's voice was identified as saying in Arabic: "I made my decision now. I put my faith in God's hands." Seconds later the autopilot was disengaged and the plane started a steep dive into the Atlantic.

Other reports said Batouty uttered the shahada - an Islamic declaration of faith in times of danger.

Many Egyptians were dismayed yesterday by what they saw as an assumption of a terrorist link. US officials say investigations on Batouty and his fellow crew turned up no links with militant groups.

EgyptAir announced yesterday that it was changing the number of its New York-Cairo direct flight from 990 to 984, after passenger cancellations.

Analyzing the Clinton administration’s troubles from the standpoint of covert action, Mr. Emory spoke about the Bush faction of the intelligence community’s probable role in precipitating the scandals besetting the President. Noting that Clinton defeated George Bush (former director of the CIA and, according to one school thought, the real “power behind the throne” during the Reagan administrations), Mr. Emory discusses a number of evidentiary tributaries connecting Clinton’s misfortunes with the world of “black-ops.”

In particular, many intelligence-connected elements in the Clinton scandals overlap the Iran-Contra and Iraqgate scandals. Shortly after George Bush was subpoenaed to testify in the trial of Chrisopher Drogoul (the central figure in the BNL/Iraqgate affair), Vince Foster was found dead. (Mr. Emory is skeptical of the “suicide” verdict in Foster’s death, but considers it probable that, if Foster was murdered, the Bush faction was the most probable author of the crime. Foster’s death may have been a signal to Clinton. Mr. Emory believes allegations that Bill Clinton was the author of the deaths of Vince Foster and others of his associates, to be preposterous.)

The last person to see Vince Foster alive was Linda Tripp, who served him lunch. (A blonde, female hair was found on Foster’s body. Right-wing conspiracy theorists have posited that it was Hillary Clinton’s. Few have considered the possibility that it may have belonged to Tripp.) A Bush administration appointee, Tripp (who, with the aid of Lucy Goldberg, precipitated the Lewinsky imbroglio) had a high security clearance, having worked for the Army’s Secret Intelligence Command at Fort Meade and for the Delta Force at Fort Bragg, N.C. (Note that the Delta Force functions in a counter-terrorist capacity. “Counter-terrorism” is the rubric under which the Bush private intelligence networks operated.)

One of the central elements of discussion involves the Bush administration officials’ decisive presence on-site in Waco. Associated with an inter-agency network administered by then Vice-President (and former CIA director) George Bush, these officials were from the Justice Department and FBI. Having chaired the Vice-President’s Task Force on Counter-Terrorism, Bush oversaw and implemented recommendations issueing from the Task Force. In a series of National Security Decision Directives, Bush was given command of what authors John Loftus and Mark Aarons describe as “His (Bush’s) own private spy agency,” and “a White House within the White House.”

Ostensibly created to provide a rapid, prophylactic response to “international terrorism,” these networks became the primary vehicle for the realization of the ill-fated, illegal, and treasonous Iran-Contra and Iraqgate schemes. Far from being “out of the loop,” as he claimed, George Bush was the primary player in both affairs. His “private spy agency” was the most significant element in their administration. Mr. Emory sets forth the participation in the Waco affair of Justice Department officials, who had previously been involved in retarding investigations into criminal operations that were part of the Iran-Contra and BNL (Iraqgate) affairs. Allegedly involved with the Branch Davidian siege was Mark Richard, a long-time Justice Department official whose career has involved overseeing investigations into the intelligence community. Mr. Emory analyzes Richard’s involvement with frustrating the investigation into some of the drug-related, Iran-Contra shennanigans, as well as the BNL affair. (The arming of Iraq and Hussein’s resulting military power were accomplished, in considerable measure, through an illegal covert operation centered on the Atlanta branch of the BNL, a major Italian commercial bank.) Working with Richard in diverting the BNL investigation, was Ed Dennis, who wrote the final report on the Branch Davidian siege and exonerated the Justice Department of any wrongdoing in the affair. Janet Reno concluded an investigation into BNL that,in turn exonerated the Reagan and Bush administrations of criminal wrongdoing in that affair. Conservative New York Times columnist William Safire referred to this as “one hand whitewashing the other.”

The discussion also highlights former FBI official Jack Revell, and other Bureau pesonnel, and their involvment in the Iran-Contra cover-up. Revell was the chief spokesperson for the Branch Davidian operation. Veteran Washington reporter Sarah MacClendon has reported that Justice Department official Richard Scruggs overlaps the Waco and Iraqgate affairs. The possibility that the Waco operation may have been deliberately conducted, in order to discredit and de-stabilize the Clinton administration and to help obfuscate the Iraqgate affair, is not one that should be too readily cast aside.

The lecture briefly examines the martial law contingency plans which, like the Iran-Contra and Iraqgate affairs, had their genesis with the recommendations stemming from the Vice-President’s Task Force. These plans called for the deputization of para-military right-wingers as federal agents, in the event of the declaration of martial law. Mr. Emory notes that the Waco incident has served to help coalesce the militia movement, creating the very para-military formations that could be utilized in a fascist takeover. Another central element of discussion focuses on a possible link between then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, the Republican Party, and a right-wing element of the Mossad (the Israeli Secret Service.) Mr. Emory notes that Lewinsky counsel Ginsburg’s stated that Lewinsky’s support for the President was reinforced by Clinton’s support for Israel. The discussion underscores that, after Gingrich traveled to Israel to undermine American support for the peace process and Hillary repeated her support for a Palestinian state, Lewinsky switched counsel, employing lawyers involved with the defense of people in the Iran-Contra affair. Mr. Emory hypothesized that Lewinsky may have been used (perhaps without her knowledge) as a pawn by a right-wing element of the Mossad, as well as the Republicans.

Bolstering Mr. Emory’s working hypothesis about the possible Gingrich/Lewinsky/Mossad link, a 1999 book recounted an allegation that the Mossad (the Israeli intelligence service) had used wiretaps of the Lewinsky/Clinton conversations to blackmail the United States. After allegedly tapping the White House phone, the Mossad allegedly used damaging information concerning the Clinton-Lewinsky affair to deter an alleged counter-intelligence investigation of “MEGA,” an Israeli spy deep inside the White House. This charge was made in Gideon’s Spies, by Gordon Thomas. The book indicates (among other things) that Benjamin Netanyahu, was close to being indicted for incitement in connection with the assassination of his predecessor, Yitzhak Rabin.

Lecture Highlights Include: Bill Clinton’s connections to the Mena, Arkansas operations of Iran-Contra operative Barry Seal (these are seen by some analysts as compromising Clinton, even before he took office); Newt Gingrich’s use of the operating paradigm of the Wehrmacht as his functional political model; Lucy Goldberg’s role as a political spy in the McGovern campaign; Goldberg’s role as Mark Fuhrman’s literary agent; the link between the shooting outside of CIA headquarters and the Iraqgate cover-up; connections between the Afghan covert operation of the 1980’s and Sheik Rakhman (convicted in the World Trade Center Bombing); an evidentiary tributary connecting the World Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing; the suspicious deaths of numerous figures associated with Clinton (as with Foster’s death, Mr. Emory feels that, if any or all of these deaths were unnatural, that they were intended to weaken Clinton.) (Delivered in October of 1998.)

Prussian military theoretician Karl Von Clausewitz observed that "war is the continuation of politics by other means." By the same token, politics could be seen as "the continuation of war by other means." This lecture analyzes the election of the year 2000 as constituting a coup d'etat and highlights a number of different aspects of the political landscape in 1999 and 2000. The discussion details what was, in effect, a military-style operation. In that context, a number of violent actions (some of them lethal) were conducted in combination with a strategic program of political and psychological warfare. These elements can be understood in the context of a military paradigm and, together, they doomed the Gore campaign.The talk begins with brief discussion of the destabilization of President Clinton's administration. This destabilization fractured the ranks of the Democratic Party and made it extremely difficult for Gore to politically exploit the economic success of the Clinton years.The substantive part of the lecture begins with the probable murder of JFK, Jr. and the effect his death may have had on the campaign. The available evidence suggests the distinct possibility that the crash that took his life was not an accident. Contrary to news reports at the time, the weather was clear and the visibility was from between two and five miles. Kennedy was about four minutes from the airport, was within visual contact radius of the island and had radioed the airport to get permission to land. He did not broadcast a "Mayday" distress call. Eyewitnesses reported Kennedy's plane approaching the airport at an altitude of less than 100 feet. (This contrasts markedly with the "radar track" which was leaked to the media, showing Kennedy's plane beginning its "graveyard spiral" at an altitude of 1800 ft. It is extraordinarily unlikely that Kennedy would have been at that altitude when coming in for a landing. Contrary to press reports at the time of Kennedy's death, he was an excellent pilot with over 300 hours of flying time. Some reports erroneously said he had as little as 35 hours.) Eyewitnesses reported seeing a "flash" or explosion over the water when Kennedy's plane disappeared. Most importantly, numerous media political pundits reported that Kennedy was going to be offered either the Presidential or (as is most likely) Vice-Presidential nomination, in an attempt to assure victory for the Democrats in the 2000 election! His death eliminated that possibility.Mr. Emory also noted that, at the time of the death of JFK, Jr., his father's assassination was once again on the front burner. Boris Yeltsin publicly gave President Clinton the KGB files on Oswald (which demonstrated that they felt Oswald was probably an American agent.) (Tabloids reported, perhaps incorrectly, that JFK, Jr. was interested in investigating his father's murder.)The lecture highlights the phony "oil shortage" of the late 1970s against the background of the allegedly real "oil shortage" of the year 2000. (The Secret War Against the Jews; pp. 333-335.) In The Secret War Against the Jews, the authors draw on veteran American and British intelligence officers in order to document collusion among elements of George Bush's CIA, the petroleum industry and the government of Saudi Arabia. Together, these elements fabricated an alleged Soviet petroleum shortfall, as well as a phony "decline" in Saudi oil production. Career oil industry professional George Bush gave Jimmy Carter a CIA report that falsely forecast a world-wide oil shortage. (Idem.) The report also ruminated about the possibility that the Soviets might invade the Middle East in order to augment allegedly failing domestic production. The goal of the report was to influence Jimmy Carter to increase oil production and sell weapons to Saudi Arabia in order to "defend against the Soviet menace". (Idem.) Carter and Energy Secretary James Schlesinger instead responded with a program of conservation. This enraged the petroleum interests, which then responded with the phony "gas shortage" of 1979. This gas shortage helped to propel Jimmy Carter from office. (Schlesinger had resigned his post earlier in Carter's administration.)Former CIA director Bush became Vice-President under Reagan and (according to some sources) became "power behind the throne." Eventually, it became evident that the CIA report was false, and that the Middle East was swimming in oil. Nonetheless, the CIA/Saudi/petroleum industry fraud was successful in conning consumers into accepting dramatically higher gasoline prices. Those rising prices destabilized the Carter administration, and persuaded Congress and the President to authorize a Saudi military buildup. That Saudi build-up tipped the military balance of power in favor of the Arabs. Most importantly, the phony oil shortage set the stage for an unprecedented military build-up during the Reagan administrations. That military build-up tripled the U.S. national debt in eight years.The talk highlights the manner in which the Reagan-Bush campaign conspired with the Muslim fundamentalist forces in Iran in order to assure Carter's defeat--the "October Surprise" of 1980. Mr. Emory speculates that the rise in petroleum prices in the year 2000 was deliberately contrived to drive up oil prices, aggravate voters, weaken the economy and pave the way for the accession of George W. Bush.In this very close Presidential race, the small percentage of the vote garnered by Green Party candidate Ralph Nader did, as some critics had warned, prove to have decisive impact. Mr. Emory presents the Nader candidacy as constituting, in effect, one part of a "pincers movement." (This is a military strategy, in which an attacking force simultaneously strikes at both of the enemy's flanks.) The Nader candidacy pinned down the Gore campaign by attacking it from the ideological left, as Bush was attacking the Vice President from the ideological right. By limiting Gore's populist appeal and attacking his environmental record, Nader denied vital strategic ground to the Gore campaign. (More than any other mainstream politician, Gore was identified with environmental causes.) A vote for Nader was indeed a vote for Bush, particularly in Florida. (Nader got more than 90,000 votes in Florida.) Note that the "Green Movement" (although progressive for the most part) has surprising historical links with fascism.In addition to analyzing the Nader campaign from a strategic perspective, Mr. Emory detailed some aspects of Nader's financial and professional history that have escaped popular attention. In particular, the discussion highlights the hypocritical investment policy that Ralph Nader has executed. ("How Nader Profits While He Preaches" by Jeff McMahon; bushwatch.net/nader.htm; 10/27/2000.) Nader owns up to $250,000 worth of shares of Fidelity Magellan Fund, a firm that is heavily invested in many of the corporations that Nader has been most vocal in criticizing. (Idem.) Among those firms that Fidelity invests in are Halliburton Oil, headed by Dick Cheney until shortly after his nomination as Bush's running mate. Fidelity also invests in Occidental Petroleum, a firm that has been criticized by environmentalists.Al Gore's mother's trust owns a significant block of Occidental stock. Gore's populist credentials have been impugned by Nader Vice-Presidential candidate Winona La Duke because of that stock. (Idem.) The lecture underscores disturbing aspects of Nader's anti-labor activities, and his avoidance of social issues. Multi-millionaire Nader has fiercely resisted attempts at unionization by the underpaid employees of his organizations. ("1.75 Cheers for Ralph" by Doug Henwood; Left Business Observer; 10/1996 [#74].) Mr. Emory sets forth Nader's refusal to permit publication of CIA/corporate collusion in his Multinational Monitor (Idem.)Another effective element of political and psychological warfare that worked against Gore was the Wen Ho Lee case. A Taiwanese American citizen who had been employed as a nuclear scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lee was falsely charged with espionage in 1999, triggering a Republican-led congressional investigation. That investigation hinted that Lee's alleged espionage on behalf of the People's Republic of China was linked to "Chinese" campaign donations to the Clinton administration. The case garnered much journalistic attention, and cast a pall of suspicion on Asian Americans employed in sensitive national security-related jobs. Most importantly, it figured in the criticism that the Republicans directed toward the Democrats during the 2000 campaign. Al Gore's appearance at the much-ballyhooed Buddhist Temple fundraiser was utilized by the Republicans to race bait the Gore campaign by associating it with "the yellow peril."In this lecture, Mr. Emory sets forth the details of one of the arms deals that Oliver North's Iran-Contra operatives arranged - a missile sale from the People's Republic of China to the Contras. The American-supplied Contra guerillas were looking for weapons with which to effectively combat the Sandinistas' Soviet-supplied attack helicopters. North arranged for a shipment of SA-7 surface-to-air missiles to be sent to the Contras. The documented sharing of nuclear weapons information with the PRC during the Reagan administration was characteristic of the type of quid pro quo arrangement that Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh found to be commonplace during the course of the Iran-Contra operations. Like other nations that supplied weapons to the Contras for the Reagan Administration, the Chinese expected favors in return for their efforts. Since the alleged theft of nuclear secrets took place during the Reagan and Bush years, they cannot be blamed on Clinton. The "theft" may well have been an outgrowth of the SA-7 deal.Nonetheless, the Republicans have attempted to pin the blame on the Clinton administration, campaigning on the falsehood that the Democrats compromised American nuclear security in exchange for campaign contributions. Among the most vocal of those pinning the blame for the Lee affair on the Clinton administration was Judge James Parker, a Reagan appointee. (The New York Times; 9/14/2000; p. A1.) The program highlights the fact that Lee and his wife had cooperated with the CIA in connection with his Chinese contacts. (San Jose Mercury News; 8/11/2000; p. 10A.) Mr. Emory also notes that Energy Secretary Bill Richardson was savaged by Judge Parker and the Republicans, and speculates about the possible use of the Lee/PRC contacts as a campaign dirty trick. (The New York Times; 9/14/2000; p. A1.) Richardson at one time was considered a possible Vice Presidential running mate for Al Gore. In addition, the Lee case helped to discredit the Department of Energy and made it difficult for that Department to follow Clinton's directive to help hold down the price of oil. This added to the effectiveness of what Mr. Emory believes was a replay of the oil price gambit of 1979-80.The discussion then turns to the death of Missourri Governor Mel Carnahan. The New York Times noted that the Democrats had a slim chance to retain control of the Senate. ("Democrats Have Outside Chance to Wrest Senate" by David E. Rosenbaum; New York Times; 10/16/2000; p.1.) One of the races that offered the possibility of a Democratic victory was the crucial race for the Senate seat held by John Ashcroft (R-Missouri.) (Idem.)The day after that observation was printed, Ashcroft's Democratic opponent, Governor Mel Carnahan, was killed in the crash of a private plane. ("Governor, 2 Others Flying in Bad Weather" by Jim Salter; San Francisco Examiner; 10/17/2000; ppA-1, A-12.) An investigator noted that the wreckage was found in " very small pieces spread over a large area," more characteristic of a bomb explosion than the accidental crash of an aircraft. (Idem.) The crash came too late for the Democrats to nominate an alternative candidate. (Idem.) The lecture underscores contradictions in the official account of the tragedy. The plane was initially reported to have crashed in very bad weather and (possibly) to have been struck by lightning. (Idem.) Subsequent accounts indicate that the weather was not particularly bad for flying and that the pilot had reported gyroscope trouble. ("Doomed Plane Apparently Had Instrument Trouble" by John W. Fountain; New York Times; 10/18/2000; p. A20.)Analysis of Carnahan's death suggested that his demise would lessen the Democrats' chances of winning control of the Senate and reduce Gore's chances of winning Missouri, a crucial swing state. ("Equation Changed by a Fatal Crash" by James Dao; New York Times; 10/18/2000; pp. A1, A20.) The state Democratic infrastructure also was pessimistic about the outcome for the Senate race. ("Governor Mourned as Public Servant" by Stephanie Simon; San Jose Mercury News; 10/18/2000; p. 15A.) One should not fail to note the superficial similarity to the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. Although Ashcroft's widow took his seat when he was posthumously elected, Bush carried Missourri (a key swing state.) The role of Carnahan's death in this campaign should not be discounted. Note, also, that John Ashcroft became Attorney General in the Bush administration and presided over the implementation of many of the draconian, unconstitutional legal revisions instituted by Dubya.As discussed above, the "oil shortage" of 1979-80 combined with the humiliation of the United States at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists in Iran to assure Jimmy Carter's election defeat. An "oil shortage" and "Middle Eastern terrorism" were front and center during the 2000 campaign, as well. Tensions in the Middle East were heightened by the bomb attack on the destroyer U.S.S. Cole. Al Qaeda and the combatants of Osama bin Laden were behind the attack. ("U.S. Says Yemen Attackers Used Inside Information" by David A. Vise and Vernon Loeb; San Francisco Chronicle; 10/13/2000; p. A6.) The lecture reviews information about the probable role of the Bin Laden family in supplying a portion of the investment capital that was used to establish George W. Bush's first oil company. The possibility that petroleum-related elements of U.S. intelligence and what Mr. Emory calls "the Underground Reich" may have been behind the attack on the Cole should not be too readily cast aside.The attack was used by the Bush campaign to attack the Democrats. Once again, Mr. Emory underscored the significance of the increase in oil prices for the economy, the stock market and the Gore campaign. Oil price increases have historically led to recessions and a falling Dow Jones Industrial average and, during Presidential election years, this has led to the incumbent being voted out of office. ("Can Al Gore Survive Rising Oil Prices and Falling Stocks?" by Floyd Norris; New York Times; 9/22/2000; p. C1.) Once again, the fact that Dubya's father was the head of the CIA and the presence in the political process of elements intimately involved with the Agency's covert operations establishment is not to be overlooked.Much of the lecture sets forth information about the role in the 2000 electoral coup played by the CIA-linked, anti-Castro Cuban milieu in Florida. The angry crowd that menaced (and consequently affected) the Miami-Dade election officials was summoned by Radio Mambi, closely connected to the Anti-Castro Cuban community in Miami. ("Miami's Cuban Americans May Get the Last Word" by Peter Dale Scott; Pacific News Service; http://pacificnews.org; 12/4/2000.) The political milieu that generated the furor over Elian Gonzalez is identical to that involved with intimidating the Miami election officials, and has historical links to the Bush faction of the CIA. (Idem.)Highlighting these connections in more detail, the discussion highlights the role of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) and its founder Jorge Mas Canosa in setting up Radio Mambi. ("Miami-Dade ReversalÃ·A Cuban terrorist Payback to Bush Family?" by Peter Dale Scott; Pacific News Service; http://pacificnews.org; 12/7/2000.) Mr. Emory relates informed speculation that the CIA (under William Casey) precipitated the founding of CANF in 1981. (Idem.) Two of Mas Canosa's proteges in CANF were the brothers Guillermo and Ignacio Novo, both implicated in the assassination of former Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier. (Idem.) The elder George Bush was closely connected to this milieu, and deflected inquiries into the Letelier assassination that led in the direction of the CIA supported coup in Chile. (Idem.)The broadcast also details the connections of this milieu to Cuban-Americans involved in the Contra support effort in the 1980's. (Idem.) Next, the discussion illuminates the role of a Cuban-American splinter group (Vigilia Mambisa) in the agitation that forced the halting of the recount. (Unpublished update by Professor Scott to "Miami's Cuban Americans May Get the Last Word" by Peter Dale Scott; Pacific News Service; http://pacificnews.org; 12/4/2000; made available to Mr. Emory by a kind listener.)The talk also sets forth links between Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the CANF milieu, the Contra support effort, and the failure of the Broward Federal Savings & Loan Association. (Unpublished update by Professor Scott to "Miami-Dade ReversalÃ·A Cuban terrorist Payback to Bush Family?" by Peter Dale Scott; Pacific News Service; http://pacificnews.org; 12/7/2000.)An "ex" CIA officer (Charles Kane) allegedly participated in a scheme to deliver some of the fraudulent absentee ballots that helped tip Florida to Bush. ("Absentee Ballot Fraud in 5 Florida Counties" by David E. Scheim; Associated Press; 12/7/2000; at http://www.campaignwatch.org.) The lecture highlighted the deliberate and fraudulent exclusion of African American voters in Florida was discussed. Many of them were labeled as "felons" and consequently prevented from voting.In addition, it turns out that the head of the political desk at Fox News (who led the media stampede to reassign Florida from Gore to Bush) was Jeb and "W's" cousin John Ellis. ("One More election Embarrassment for the Press: Bush Cousin" by Tom Rosenstiel; The Los Angeles Times; 11/15/2000; p. B9.) Ellis was in close telephone contact with Jeb and "W" on election night, apparently feeding them political intelligence on the election. ("News Executive Called Races, and Bush" by Bill Carter; The New York Times; 11/14/2000; p. A17.) Ellis' call led the media charge to reverse the call of Florida as being won by Gore. This was critical to Bush's success, because it created the impression that Gore was a "sore loser" and facilitated the capitulation of the Democrats. The lecture also points out that Theodore Olson, the new Solicitor General, was one of the lead attorneys for the Bush campaign in Florida. (The Solicitor General is often referred to as "the tenth Supreme Court Justice.")Olson was heavily involved in the campaign to discredit Bill Clinton, as well. The ascent of Olson and Ashcroft to two of the most important positions in the Department of Justice could be said to complete the electoral coup of the year 2000. The lecture concludes with analysis of the "energy crisis" in California as a deliberately structured destabilization of the California Democratic electoral base. California went heavily for Gore in 2000 and Gray Davis has been discussed as a possible opponent for Bush in 2004. The California "energy crisis" may well be setting the stage for "the electoral coup of the year 2004." (Recorded on 2/24/2001.)

With George W. Bush running for President, this lecture sets forth information about the political heritage of Bush and the Bush family. The discussion begins with the elite Skull and Bones society at Yale. Dubya, his father and grandfather belonged to this elite society. Two of George H.W. Bush's fellow "bonesmen (Howard Weaver and Samuel Sloan Walker Jr) both worked with Allen Dulles' "Freedom Fighters" program. (The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People, by John Loftus and Mark Aarons; St. Martin's Press; copyright 1994; ISBN 0-312-11057-X; pp. 592-3.) It should be noted that George H.W. Bush was deeply involved with the "fascist freedom fighters" network.The program discusses some of the mythology about, and substance of, the Skull and Bones society. (The New York Observer; 3/27/2000; pp. 15-16.) The discussion touches on the occult origins of the group's initiation rituals, some of the influential men who had belonged to the group, the group's on-going contacts with the elder George, and a circular letter instructing "bonesmen" to avoid discussion of the group (presumably because of the candidacy of George W. (Idem.) The discussion then highlights allegations that Prescott Bush (Sr) helped to rob Geronimo's grave, as well as related charges that the Apache warrior's remains were then taken back to the "Tomb" (the insider's nickname for the Skull and Bones headquarters.)Next, the lecture answers the question posed in the title. The "W" in George Junior's name stands for Walker, the last name of Bush's great grandfather, one of Hitler's most powerful American financial backers.) The lecture highlights the profound involvement of George Herbert Walker and his son-in-law Prescott Bush (Senior) in financing of the German industrial concerns that financed and propelled the Third Reich. (Prescott Bush Sr. is the father of the former President and CIA Director and the grandfather of "W.") The discussion touches on the Hamburg-Amerika line, one of the Bush-connected companies that played a key role in Nazi espionage before, and during, World War II. In addition to helping to fund the operations of the SS, the Hamburg-Amerika line also played a significant role in the Bormann flight capital program. The discussion underscores the strong connections between Walker, Prescott Bush Sr. and Fritz Thyssen, the German steelmaker and one of Hitler's earliest and most prominent financial backers. The Union Banking Corporation was a Bush business that was, in essence, a front for the Thyssen interests.The genesis of the Walker-Thyssen relationship was in 1924, the year after Thyssen began to develop the long relationship with Martin Bormann, a familial relationship that has spanned the generations. (Mr. Emory speculates that the Bush family may very well be deeply involved with the Bormann group.)The discussion highlights George Sr.'s involvement with the Nazi emigre milieu that spawned the Republican Ethnic Heritage Organization, literally a Nazi wing of the Republican party. (This milieu had its genesis with the Crusade For Freedom, the centerpiece of Allen Dulles' fascist freedom fighters program, involving Bush's fellow bonesmen Weaver and Sloan Walker. This was an illegal domestic intelligence operation, which entailed the importation of Nazis and fascists into the United States for political purposes. A close political ally of Richard Nixon, George Bush midwived the formal inclusion of the Nazi "ethnics" in the GOP, utilizing his position as chairman of the Republican National Committee. Bush later used this same Nazi emigre network in his 1988 presidential campaign.Another major focal point of the lecture is the involvement of George H.W. Bush in the assassination of President Kennedy. The lecture documents a number of connections between the milieu of "vice" Presidents George Bush Sr., Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon and V.P. candidate Dick Cheney and the assassination of President Kennedy. One of the acquisitions of Halliburton Oil (headed by Dick Cheney) was Dresser industries. (Wall Street Journal, 7/26/2000, p. B4.) The program recapitulates an excerpt from RFA-37, that documents Bush Sr.'s employment with Dresser industries, the firm's connections to the intelligence community and to Prescott Bush Sr. (George Sr.'s father), the firm's connections to the Skull and Bones society, to which both Bushes (and George W.) belong; the probability that Dresser served as a cover for George Sr.'s work for the CIA, and George Sr.'s close connections to Oswald handler and probable Nazi spy George de Mohrenschildt. ("In the Company of Friends", by Anthony L. Kimmery, Covert Action Information Bulletin, Issue #41, Summer 1992.) The lecture highlights the close relationship between Richard Nixon and George Bush, Sr. Nixon appointed Bush Sr. as head of the Republican National Committee during the Watergate scandal, just as he appointed Gerald Ford as Vice-President. Ford then succeeded Nixon, pardoned him, and appointed Bush as director of the CIA. Bush then helped to obstruct the House Select Committee on Assassinations' investigation of the Kennedy assassination. It should be noted that George Sr.'s name crops up in connection with the Kennedy assassination in several different different ways.The talk details the links of George Bush Senior to the shooting of President Reagan. At the time Reagan was shot, former Director of Central Intelligence Bush was Vice-President.) John Hinckley was a former member of the National Socialist Party of America. (San Francisco Examiner, 3/31/81.) He was expelled for being so violent that his fellow Nazis suspected him of being a government agent. (Idem.) In October of 1980, Hinckley had been arrested at the Nashville (Tennessee) airport as then President Jimmy Carter was due to arrive. (Idem.) At the time, he had a .38 caliber pistol and two .22 caliber handguns in his possession, along with 50 rounds of ammunition. (Idem.) Interestingly, this former resident of Dallas, Texas, had purchased the weapons at Rocky's Pawn Shop, on the very street on which President Kennedy had been assassinated. (Idem.) One wonders to what extent some of these "coincidences" were intended to send a message. The Nazi party to which Hinckley belonged had been founded by George Lincoln Rockwell, whose Arlington (Virginia) name and address were in Lee Harvey Oswald's address book at the time of his (Oswald's) arrest. Hinckley had attended a memorial march to commemorate Rockwell. (San Francisco Chronicle, 4/1/81.)The lecture sets forth evidence that Hinckley's father, John Hinckley Sr., had been a significant contributor to George Bush's primary campaign (when Bush Sr. was challenging Ronald Reagan for the nomination.) (Idem.) The night after the shooting, John Jr.'s brother, Scott Hinckley, was scheduled to have dinner with Neil Bush (George W.'s brother and, like "Dubya" and George Sr, a petroleum industry professional.) (San Francisco Chronicle, 4/1/81.) Scott was, at the time, an executive with the Hinckley family's independent oil company, Vanderbilt Energy. (San Jose Mercury, 4/1/81, p. 24A, San Francisco Chronicle, 4/1/81.) Hinckley Sr.'s participation in a Christian Evangelical organization called World Vision is of more than passing interest. (San Francisco Examiner, 3/31/81.) World Vision had served as a front for U.S. intelligence in Central America, employing former members of Anastazio Somoza's National Guard to inform on El Salvadorian refugees in Costa Rica. (National Catholic Reporter, 4/23/82.) A number of the refugees were liquidated, after being identified as guerilla sympathizers by World Vision operatives. (Idem.) World Vision had also functioned as a front for U.S. intelligence in Southeast Asia dring the Vietnam War. (Christian Century Magazine, 7/4-7/11/1979.) Hinckley Sr.'s participation in World Vision, the latter's connections to U.S. intelligence, and the closeness of the Bush and Hinckley families should be evaluated in light of the fact that George Sr. had been head of the CIA. Hinckley Jr. was eventually represented by the law firm of Edward Bennett Williams, one of the most powerful law firms in Washington D.C. (San Francisco Examiner, 4/1/81, p. A12.) The Williams firm's previous clients included former CIA director Richard Helms, Robert Vesco (also connected to U.S. intelligence), Jimmy Hoffa and John Connally. With the assistance of the Williams law firm's representation (and a pliant media establishment) Hinckley's documented Nazi connections were magically transformed into "delusions" of this "lone nut." (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/18/82.)The lecture highlights the phony "oil shortage" of the late 1970's against the background of the allegedly real "oil shortage" of the year 2000. (The Secret War Against the Jews; pp. 333-335.) In this important and extensively-footnoted volume, the authors draw on veteran American and British intelligence officers in order to document collusion among elements of George Bush's CIA, the petroleum industry and the government of Saudi Arabia. Together, these elements fabricated an alleged Soviet petroleum shortfall, as well as a phony "decline" in Saudi oil production. Career oil industry professional George Bush gave Jimmy Carter a CIA report that falsely maintained forecast a world-wide oil shortage. (Idem.) The report also ruminated about the possibility that the Soviets might invade the Middle East in order to augment allegedly failing domestic production. The goal of the report was to influence Jimmy Carter to increase oil production and to mandate weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in order to "defend against the Soviet menace". (Idem.) Carter and Energy Secretary James Schlesinger instead responded with a program of conservation. This enraged the petroleum interests, which then responded with the phony "gas shortage" of 1979. This gas shortage helped to propel Jimmy Carter from office. (Schlesinger had resigned his post earlier in Carter's administration.)Former CIA director Bush became Vice-President under Reagan and (according to some sources.) became "power behind the throne." Eventually, it became evident that the CIA report was false, and that the Middle East was swimming in oil. Nonetheless, the CIA/Saudi/petroleum industry fraud was successful in conning consumers into accepting dramatically higher gasoline prices, destabilizing the Carter administration, and persuading Congress and the President to authorize a Saudi military buildup. That Saudi build-up tipped the military balance of power in favor of the Arabs. Most importantly, the phony oil shortage set the stage for an unprecedented military build-up during the Reagan administrations. That military build-up tripled the U.S. national debt in eight years.The talk highlights the manner in which the Reagan-Bush campaign conspired with the Muslim fundamentalist forces in Iran in order to assure Carter's defeat. Mr. Emory speculates that the rise in petroleum prices in the year 2000 was deliberately contrived to drive up oil prices, aggravate voters, weaken the economy and pave the way for the accession of George W. Bush. It was during the phony oil shortage of Ã979-80 that George W's first business venture took shape.The genesis of his first oil company involved many of the conspiratorial forces that overlapped his father's tenure as CIA director (and, later, as Vice-President.) Bush's Arbusto Energy company was begun, in part, with money from one James R. Bath. Bath's reputed associations run from the Central Intelligence Agency to the failed BCCI. The latter was a financial institution involved in drug-dealing, terrorism and arms trafficking. (It was used by Oliver North for some of his Iran-Contra machinations.) Bath was the Texas business representative for Saudi terrorist Osama Bin Laden's family and the money he used to help start Arbusto may very well have come, in part, from the Bin Laden family. (Bath appears to have had little or no capital of his own at this time.) Bath told a business associate that he had been personally recruited into the CIA by George H.W. Bush, when he was director of the Agency. Bath also claimed that his involvement with his Saudi clients was undertaken at the specific request of the senior Bush. (Presumably, this would have included his work on behalf of the Bin Laden family.)Next, the lecture focuses on George H.W. Bush's pivotal role in the Iran-Contra and "Iraqgate" scandals. After discussion of his pardoning of several key participants in the affair, the talk turns to his involvement in the events themselves. (The Los Angeles Times; 8/28/2000; p. A13.) The discussion focuses on Bush and the world of "international terrorism." (The Secret War Against the Jews; pp. 407-409; p. 429.) Having chaired the Vice-President's Task Force on Counter-Terrorism, George H.W. Bush oversaw and implemented recommendations issueing from that Task Force. In a series of National Security Decision Directives, Bush was given command of what authors John Loftus and Mark Aarons describe as "His (Bush's) own private spy agency," and "a White House within the White House." Ostensibly created to provide a rapid, prophylactic response to "international terrorism," these networks became the primary vehicle for the realization of the ill-fated, illegal and treasonous Iran-Contra and Iraqgate schemes.Far from being "out of the loop," as he claimed, George Bush was the primary player in both affairs. (Idem.) His "private spy agency" was the most significant element in the both the administration and implementation of the operations. (Idem.) The name of George W's brother Neil also surfaced in connection with the S & L scandal. Neil Bush approved many of the bad loans that collapsed Denver's Silverado Savings and Loan. (The Houston Post, 2/4/1990.) (It should be noted that George H.W. Bush chaired the task force that crafted the "reforms" under which the looting of the S & L's took place. It should also be noted that Neil Bush's name also figures in the scenario surrounding the shooting of President Reagan.) Neil Bush's name also surfaced in connection with the Sun-Flo case in Colorado. ("Dealer's Choice: A Colorado Invention Was Supposed to End World Hunger, but Instead Left Investors High and Dry" by Bryan Abas; Westword; 7/13-19/1988.) Bush's name was used to help raise money for a dehydration device designed to preserve produce in Third World areas. (Idem.) It appears that the enterprise was a scam to raise money for cocaine trafficking, possibly in connection with the Contra support effort in Central America. (Idem.)Neil and W's brother Jeb (currently governor of Florida) also assisted with the prosecution of the Contra War in Nicaragua. Jeb Bush served as his father's liaison to the anti-Castro Cuban community in Florida. ("The Family That Preys Together" by Jack Calhoun; Covert Action Information Bulletin #41; Summer 1992.) The anti-Castro Cubans were deeply involved in the Contra support effort. Jeb Bush also maintined contacts with figures from the Miami underworld milieu. (Idem.)The discussion outlines forth a Byzantine series of machinations, through which an airplane purchased for smuggling operations by drug smuggler, DEA informant and Iran-Contra lynchpin Barry Seal wound up being Texas Governor George Bush's favorite aircraft. Barry Seal's expertise as a drug pilot par excellence, his aircraft, as well as his bases of operations were tailor-made for the Reagan adminsitration's clandestine wars in Central America, particularly the Contra support effort. Moreover, the winding path followed by "Zero-Eight Foxtrot" from Seal to the Governor's mansion is an excellent vantage point for examining the myriad and overlapping criminal conspiracies that helped to support the Contra war. (The plane's nickname is derived from its registration number.) Following the aircraft's trail, one will come across drug-smuggling, the savings and loan scandal, insurance scams and other "bust-out" operations, the proceeds from which went to finance the Contras.The talk also details the probable murder of JFK, Jr. and the effect his death may have had on the campaign. The available evidence suggests the distinct possibility that the crash was not an accident. Contrary to news reports at the time, the weather was clear and the visibility was from between two and five miles. Kennedy was about four minutes from the airport, was within visual contact radius of the island and had radioed the airport to get permission to land. He did not broadcast a "Mayday" distress call. Eyewitnesses reported Kennedy's plane aproaching the airport at an altitude of less than 100 feet. (This contrasts markedly with the "radar track" which was leaked to the media, showing Kennedy's plane beginning its "graveyard spiral" at an altitude of 1800 ft. It is extraordinarily unlikely that Kennedy would have been at that altitude when coming in for a landing. Contrary to press reports at the time of Kennedy's death, he was an excellent pilot with over 300 hours of flying time. Some reports erroneously said he had as little as 35 hours.) Eyewitnesses reported seeing a "flash" or explosion over the water when Kennedy's plane disappeared. Most importantly, numerous media political pundits reported that Kennedy was going to be offered either the Presidential or (as is most likely) Vice-Presidential nomination, in an attempt to assure victory for the Democrats in the 2000 election! His death eliminated that possibility.